50 CIRCULAR 249, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
times and sometimes as many as five rebulkings are necessary. Each 
time the temperature rises more slowly and a lower maximum point 
is reached. Sometimes 15 days elapse between turnings. 
When the tobacco comes out of the bulks it is sorted, sized, tied into 
hands, packed loosely in cases, and is kept for 3 or 4 weeks in a mulling 
room where a temperature of about 90° F. is maintained (fig. 25). 
Shade-grown tobacco is sorted by skilled laborers on the basis of 
color, body, texture, uniformity, and injury, and is sized to 1-inch 
lengths. It is usually sorted into 10 to 15 grades. When the sorted 
and sized tobacco comes out of the mulling room it is packed and 
pressed into bales about 32 by 32 by 12 inches, ranging in weight from 
150 to 175 pounds net and averaging about 165 pounds each. 
AMA 1297 
Ficure 25.—Sorting shade-grown wrapper tobacco at Hartford, Conn. The 
work is performed in air-conditioned, skylighted rooms, under close supervision. 
The bale is usually enclosed in tough waxy paper for protection and 
to retain moisture. Outside of this is sewn a covering made from 
tobacco mats, an imported woven article made in the Orient from 
uniform narrow strips of native grass. This matting is stenciled with 
a number and the grade of tobacco in the bale. Some companies add 
the year of growth. The bales are then placed in tiers for storage 
(fig. 26). When they are to be shipped, some are covered with a heavy 
burlap and some are packed individually in hghtweight wooden boxes 
weighing about 45 pounds each. Cartons have been used instead of 
boxes, but some carriers refuse to accept such packages because of the 
weight and value of the contents—frequently around $3 per pound 
net. 
The moisture content at the time of baling ranges from 18 to 20 
percent, and as some further fermentation takes place the bales are 
usually placed in a warm room for 3 or 4 weeks before they go into 
regular storage. 
